I Was the Subject of a Political 'Witch Hunt.' Matt Whitaker Directed It.

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Matt McCoy is a state senator from Iowa's 21st District.

On the morning of April 7, 2006, two FBI agents knocked on my door. They informed me that I was being investigated about issues related to bribery and violation of the Hobbs Act. As I tried to recall what the Hobbs Act entailed (robbery and extortion, mostly), they prolonged their visit by pressing “play” on a tape recorder. I was shocked to hear a conversation I had conducted with my business colleague, Tom Vasquez.

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At the time, David Yepsen of the Register wrote: “It appears the U.S. attorney, Matt Whitaker, is aggressively going after the city’s south-side Democratic organization and the way it does business.” You could call it due diligence, and, to be clear, the investigation and secret recording of my conversations was done in a fully legal manner. But if you consider Whitaker’s naked partisanship, as Yepsen did, and the fact that a study at the time showed that the Ashcroft and Gonzales Departments of Justice prosecuted Democrats to an extent grossly disproportionate to Republicans, you could refer to it as something very different. In Whitaker’s own recent words: a “witch hunt.”

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Whitaker has attempted to establish his own career in Iowa politics. He lost a run for state treasurer in 2002, lost a Republican primary bid for the U.S. Senate in 2014, and was not selected for a seat on the Iowa Supreme Court despite angling for the job. It’s hard to believe he could carry out the important job of United States attorney general with a sense of fealty to the law and to the Constitution, rather than to the Republican Party.

The government’s invasion of my privacy during the case Whitaker’s office brought against me was hardly unusual for such an investigation, but considering my innocence and exculpation it was appalling: I was followed, my conversations were recorded, and my financial records were seized. Family members, co-workers, legislative colleagues and acquaintances were questioned. My emails were read. The emails and financial records of a business colleague were subpoenaed. My reputation and future were damaged. The emotional stress took its toll on my physical and mental health. I lost both actual and potential income, along with my savings. When the DOJ wields its power in a partisan manner, it ruins lives. Whitaker almost ruined mine.

I left in debt, and with and a shattered sense of security. Whitaker left noting his “complete confidence in the jury system.”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/11/11/matthew-whitaker-iowa-witch-hunt-222408?fbclid=IwAR1w7mxCqLq7Fxr5a9L3b2gCU6RZqlUTsWRyqtfDeF1cC10Y-bnckbEG3AE